Geisinger Medical Center is a large primary, secondary and tertiary health care center with a professional staff of 400 physicians, including approximately 200 residents and fellows in training as well as 8 schools of allied health education. The Weis Center for Research of Geisinger Clinic opened in 1987 with the goal of contributing to the patient care, education and research missions of the organization. From the inception of the Weis Center, Geisinger has been committed to a centralized program for the humane care and use of laboratory animals. This format includes centralized financial support for the veterinary professional and technical staff, facility construction, operation and maintenance and centralized management, supervision and administration of our animal care and use program. Our Director of Comparative Medicine and Surgery and support staff have campus wide responsibilities for the care and use of animals in research and teaching and answer directly to the Senior Vice President for Research. Over the past four years, our research and educational programs using animals have rapidly evolved to support approximately 45 active protocols directly involving laboratory animals. Key developments in the evolution of our animal care and use programs have been the recruitment of a full time veterinarian in 1988, implementation of a didactic and hands-on investigator and technician training program in 1988 and achievement of full AAALAC accreditation following our initial application in 1990. Inherent with the growth and development of our basic and clinical research programs as well as the educational objectives of a major medical center has been the maximal utilization of our existing animal care facilities. This crisis will be further magnified by expansion of the Weis Center in 1992. Major objectives of this proposal include renovation of existing feed and general storage rooms to create increased animal housing space and creation of a dedicated rodent surgery/microsurgical area. Funding is also requested for an automated animal watering system for this area, equipment to support the rodent surgical area, a refrigerated feed storage unit, post-operative animal care caging for large species, and equipment for rodent serologic screening for animal health surveillance. Achievement of these objectives will permit future growth of our research programs in a manner that will be fully compliant with the Guide and ultimately provide an excellent resource for biomedical research and teaching at Geisinger.